Woman stops to help ducklings, gets $44 ticket

NEWFIELDS — A Newfields mom who pulled off to the side of Route 101 to help some ducklings after a mother wood duck was killed is facing a fine.

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By Jason Schreiber

seacoastonline.com

By Jason Schreiber

Posted Jul. 22, 2014 at 6:59 AM
Updated Jul 22, 2014 at 3:55 PM

By Jason Schreiber

Posted Jul. 22, 2014 at 6:59 AM
Updated Jul 22, 2014 at 3:55 PM

» Social News

NEWFIELDS — A Newfields mom who pulled off to the side of Route 101 to help some ducklings after a mother wood duck was killed is facing a fine.

Hallie Bibeau, 33, was a bit surprised when a state police trooper handed her a $44 ticket because she pulled into the median strip and tried to lend a hand to the helpless ducklings as they attempted to make it across the highway.

The rescue effort occurred Friday around 1 p.m. when Bibeau was traveling eastbound on Route 101 near Exit 8 in Brentwood and noticed a vehicle swerve off to the right side of the highway up ahead.

Bibeau, who was in the passing lane, hit the brakes and quickly pulled off into the median strip on the left-hand side because she couldn't safely cross to the right side.

That's when she spotted a flock of about eight ducklings.

“I could hear them peeping in the brush,” said Bibeau, whose maternal instincts kicked in; she became a mother for the first time with the birth of her son, Camden, four weeks ago.

Bibeau said she pulled her vehicle off the highway so she wouldn't pose a traffic hazard.

“I was completely off the pavement. I wasn't so worried about other traffic. I think if someone would have hit my car it would have been completely their lack of paying attention because they would have been off the road,” she said.

Bibeau has seen many news stories about emergency personnel helping ducks cross the street, so she decided to call 911.

As she sat in the median, Bibeau noticed that the mother duck had been struck and killed in the breakdown lane. The motherless ducklings were now attempting to waddle over to the westbound lanes.

While she waited, Bibeau said the ducklings made a couple of attempts to cross together. Two of them were hit.

“It was an awful thing to see and then to continue sitting there watching them trying to do it again, I just couldn't sit there and watch them try again,” she said.

Bibeau found a bag inside her vehicle and used it to capture two of the ducklings.

At one point, an ambulance responding to a gas leak involving a vehicle farther ahead stopped to make sure she was OK. Bibeau explained why she was there.

Soon, she said, a state trooper arrived and asked why she was sitting in the median.

State police Lt. Nicole Armaganian said the state police detective stopped after he noticed the ambulance pulled over and Bibeau's vehicle. He wasn't sure what was wrong.

Bibeau said she told the trooper about the situation, but he explained that the median could only be used in an emergency.

“He said, 'This is not an emergency or a reason to be sitting here” and I just said that I felt differently,” Bibeau said.

Bibeau ended up with a $44 fine for pulling into the median and was told that she would be issued a summons to appear in court if she didn't respond within 30 days.

She was then told to pull back onto the highway and move along.

Bibeau said she wasn't able to help four other ducklings that were left behind.

As soon as she returned home, Bibeau put the two ducklings she rescued in a carrier and brought them to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, Maine.

She gave the center a donation to help care for the ducklings, but has since learned that one of the them died.

“I expected a little bit of compassion for the situation. I was stopped because I had to slam on my brakes and I had to make the decision whether to continue to pull forward or do something about it. I'm an animal lover and I couldn't move on. A lot of people would have done the same thing I did,” she said.

According to Armaganian, Bibeau's actions posed safety hazards on the highway.

“Although we definitely have empathy for her, we understand she's a new mother … pulling into the (median) to gather the ducklings was putting herself and others at too much of a risk,” she said.

She added, “Her being a new mom, I think the last thing her husband wants is to be a widower.”

But Bibeau said she feels a written warning would have been more appropriate given the circumstances.

She's not sure whether she'll pay the fine or fight it in court.

“I would rather the (fine) go toward the care of the animal or the center that actually did something to help with the situation. I may go to court. Maybe the judge will be a little more sympathetic,” she said.